Family Stays Together
by inyostalk
Summary: One fateful day, Haruhi broke the vase, forcing her to work as a host in Ouran Academy's famous host club. But soon to follow are 5 other girls. New to the school and forced into the host club as waitresses, watch how these girls find not just romance but the answer to their own dark pasts. This fanfiction follows the anime series in episode order. TamakiXHaruhi and HostsXOC's
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran Highschool Host Club. I do however, own my OC's.

* * *

Grace's POV:

"I never imagined the sky could be this blue. It's so beautiful. " Grace sighed, gazing out of the plane's window.

Never before had she taken the time to look at the sky - really look at it. After finishing her book a few minutes before, Grace had turned her attention to the scenery outside of the plane. Something about the depth of the blue made her feel at ease - calm and comfortable. The pale, blue sky seemed to stretch and contort itself out to the horizon, as if it had no end and no beginning. Below it, the waters of the Pacific ocean glinted with light from the noontime sun.

Next to her, Rose eagerly flipped through a brochure of their new school. "I can't believe that you're not more excited about moving to Japan. It's so amazing: new culture, new language, new people, new school! Look at this picture," Rose jabbed her finger onto a picture on the page. Grace smiled, shaking her head at Rose's excitement, and turned to listen. "The school is huge, like a castle! An... extremely pink castle. Schools aren't usually pink right? That's so weird!"

A face appeared in front of them.

"It's just going to be just like any other school, Rose. Just with a bunch of entitled rich snobs. And expensive food." Mia was sitting in front of Grace, next to her sister, Izzy. Though all of the girls were adopted by the same couple and therefore related, Izzy and Mia were biological sisters. Twin sisters actually- though nobody would guess just by looking. Both had features with sharp jawlines and muscular frames, but that's where the resemblance stopped. Izzy had chocolate brown eyes, Mia had ice blue ones; Mia's hair was a darker shade of blonde and Izzy's skin was more pale. Grace thought their personalities were the only things hard to tell apart about them, but those had significant differences too.

Izzy's face appeared in between the Rose and Grace's seats as she leaned on the headrests. Obviously, they both had decided to join in the conversation.

"Mia, with advantages like those who wouldn't want to go to Ouran Academy. The only downside is the horrible school uniforms we'll have to wear. It's not fair that Luca gets to wear the guys' version even if he is a guy. If we have to put up with the yellow, marshmallow abominations, he should too. That way, we're all humiliated together, instead of shamed separately."

"It is kinda sad, Iz. They have all this money and yet can't invest in clothes that don't make you cringe," Mia replied, head still protruding from the isle.

A ding resounded throughout the passenger cabin. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are about to begin our final descent to the airport. We ask that all passengers return to their seats at this time until the seatbelt sign is turned off." The captain's gruff voice crackled over the intercom. "Currently in Tokyo time is 3:00 and the weather is nice and sunny. We have certainly enjoyed having you on board today, we hope to see you again real soon, and thanks again for flying with us today."

As passengers buckled in and stewardesses walked by to check that everyone had listened to the captain, Izzy and Mia's heads both disappeared as they sat down back in their own seats. Rose got out another brochure and scourged over that one for any details it might impart to her. Grace snorted and looked out the window, the illusion of a never-ending blue broken up by the approaching city.

* * *

Grace started, having drifted off to sleep, at the exclamation of equal parts victory and relief. Looking over to the seat next to her, she found Rose had successfully mastered the art of removing seat belts and had stood up. It had taken her three tries and a somewhat painful attempt to stand up fully with it still on until finally she had figured it out. Grace smiled, amused as she slid out of her own seat with no difficulty and took their luggage out of the overhead compartment. She grabbed her bag from the overhead compartment and handed another to Rose. She then pulled out the bags of the other two girls while Rose joined the mob of passengers heading for the exit - quite leisurely to Rose's visible disappointment. The twins seemed to be in the middle of a card game, both concentrating too much to notice the plane's lack of movement.

"Ha! A Jack. Good luck beating that," Izzy said, oblivious to Grace standing over her.

Mia cursed. "It's so not fair that you started out with all the Jacks. That's like, quadruple handicaps. Are you sure you shuffled, Iz?"

"It's all in the luck of the draw, my dear sister. Only someone as special as me can be born with this much combination of skill and luck."

"Right. I don't think that special even begins to describe you. Next time, we're playing poker."

Grace sighed loudly and admittedly, a little exaggeratedly, cutting off the girl's conversation and making them both look up at her. "Would I be able to tear you two away from your extremely important card game or should I ask the captain to fly us around for another hour, so you can finish?"

They both looked out the window, surprised to see the airport runway.

Mia grinned at Izzy like a Cheshire Cat. "I guess it's a tie then. I stayed alive to the very end."

"I still like Grace's idea of finishing our little card game," Izzy replied, then as an afterthought, added," And there's no way that was a tie. I would have obliterated you within minutes."

"Let's go,please," Grace pleaded, "before Rose and Luca leave without us."

"Aw, Grace, they wouldn't do that." Mia said, winking.

"Yeah,"Izzy chimed in," Rose would miss us too much. Plus, Luca probably would much rather leave her behind than any of us." Grace nodded impatiently as they swept up their card game and grabbed their bags, exiting the plane. She followed them out, ducking her head in thanks to the pilot and stewardesses. It was going to be a long day.

They found Rose waiting for them in baggage claim, almost bouncing off the walls with energy. The airport was large, with huge windows overlooking the city. Rose ran from one to another, soaking up the scene, but to her disappointment, her enthusiasm evaporated when security officers were asked to come escort a certain pair of twins off of the carousel. Finally, they all found their respective bags and without another incident, walked out to find the last member of their family leaning lazily against a large, green car.

"Took you long enough," Luca said, glaring at his sister in mock irritation when he spotted them.

"What, like it's my fault we're late?" Rose exclaimed, glaring right back. "These two decided it would be fun to ignore the giant sign sitting out in the middle of the walkway and take a joyride on the carousels." She pointed accusingly in Izzy and Mia's direction, who were both laughing like crazy. Grace guessed she was still a little mad that she didn't get to look around more.

"If they didn't want us to ride it, they shouldn't have posted the idea up in the first place,"Izzy giggled. Rose stood horrified, while Luca grinned like the devil; it was comical, seeing the same two completely opposite expressions on their similar faces. Like the twins, Luca and Rose were biological siblings. Born in Spain, they both had matching brown eyes and chestnut hair. Though they quarreled often with each other, if you crossed one, you would have both to contend with. The most interesting thing about them was that they both spoke fluent Spanish. However, Grace's few classes she had taken didn't make her nearly advanced enough to avoid them laughing at her attempts to speak it.

"Alright," Luca laughed," Everyone get in the car. James and Jemma are waiting for us at the house. And luckily for me, my room is on the opposite side of the house from all of yours."

James and Jemma were a working couple, with jobs that had them both travelling for more than was good. In fact, they spent more time in foreign countries than their home. But that didn't detract from the time they spent with the girls. Usually the girls were invited on their overseas trips. This, though, was a unique experience that their jobs made them uproot the whole family to a new country.

It had taken more time than should have been necessary and the efforts of both Grace and Luca to convince Rose that they didn't have time to explore the entire city that day- that they should wait until they all get a day off. They finally all were on the road, heading towards their new house, but not without constant complaint from Rose.

Like Luca had said, the adults were waiting for them in the kitchen of their new house. Sadly, it was probably one room that would go unused throughout their stay in Japan. No one in the family knew how to cook in any form of the world besides cereal and toast. The exception was Grace who knew the basic recipe for spaghetti, but no one wanted to eat a single dish seven days out of the week.

"I trust the plane ride went without a hitch, yes?" Jemma asked. "We were just going to order takeout. I thought it would be nice since you all are probably a little jet lagged still."

"Awesome!" The twins cheered, while Grace nodded appreciatively. Rose just plopped herself onto one of the chairs, letting out a sigh as if the weight of the world had just come off her shoulders. And though unpacking their luggage and preparing for school the next day took most of the night, they all still settled in for a night with the family.

* * *

The next morning, the siblings were to start at their new school. As Mia had mentioned on the plane ride, it was a school for the ultra-rich and society's most powerful citizen's children - for royalty really, but that in turn meant that the education was most likely one of the best, which to Jemma and James was the main draw to this school. That, and the discounted price they all got because of a favor the school's admin owed them.

Determination ran through her veins, when Grace decided to make the most of this opportunity. Out of all her siblings, Grace cared the most about school, with Luca a close second. Both saw it as a ticket to a good future. Suffice it to say, they were ecstatic.

Though she definitely was the most excited about it, going to Ouran Academy was thrilling for the rest of her siblings too, and no matter how terrible the uniforms were, nothing was going to quell their excitement. At least, that's what the girls told themselves as they got dressed for the day. When they filed into the car, Luca did a double take, and started laughing. He obviously hadn't realized how awful their uniforms really were.

The siblings stood at the entrance to Ouran Academy and waited for their tour guide to arrive. They had arrived early enough that the school grounds were still empty with no students milling around or parked cars in the parking lot.

Grace could barely process what she was seeing, nor could her siblings. The school was huge. Rose's brochure definitely didn't lie, but the pictures didn't get across just how grand it seemed in person. The school could have been an entire university, if that university architect really, really liked the color pink. There were pink towers, pink turrets, pink bricks. The only things that weren't pink, were the translucent windows.

"Great," Mia mumbled. "First the uniforms, then the buildings. This just keeps getting better and better."

"Seriously," Izzy murmured back, "whoever the color coordinator is for this school should be hit over the head with a chair. Multiple times."

"Hi," a cheerful voice interrupted. Standing in front of them was a sweet looking girl. "You must be the new students, right? I'm Masaka, your tour guide this morning. Welcome to Ouran Academy."

* * *

I hope that you guys enjoyed it and I promise the writing will get better as I goes on. The hosts will come in soon. Please, please, please read and review. Especially the review part. Constructive criticism is always like a gift, no matter how harsh it is!

Lots of Love ~

Inyostalk


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club. I do however, own my OC's.**

* * *

 **Rose's POV:**

The tour was fun at the beginning. Rose had never been inside of a school before, especially one this fancy. Though from the disgusted looks that the twins were throwing around, Rose could tell that it was much more extravagant than any normal school. She knew without looking at him, that the blatant waste of money frustrated Luca.

Rose's family was well off, not extremely rich, but more comfortable than most families. Jemma and James didn't have to take three jobs in order to feed their own children like some parents did. They made good money that provided them all with comfort and left them wanting nothing. And for someone who experienced living with nothing, that was pretty awesome. Plus, James and Jemma both got to do what they loved: travel the world. But they were not nearly as wealthy as the families who sent their kids here. Rose and her sibling barely got in on scholarship, even with the help of the admin. To Rose, the flamboyancy of Ouran Academy was ridiculous and she knew that to Luca, it was plain wasteful. Luca had always been more of a stickler when it came to spending money. The school looked as if the students' families had pooled together an extremely large sum of their wealth and poured it all into the decorating of the school. Which, might as well face it, is probably what happened.

The Academy didn't just look like a castle, it was one: with towers, and turrets, and a giant, rose maze behind it. They had arrived before school had started, leaving them the only ones on campus except for a few half-asleep professors. Each individual room they toured wasn't exactly unique. In fact, most of them looked to be mirror images of each other.

And as the tour progressed, Rose realized that there were many, many more cloned rooms to see. She only deigned to remember one though, given how much effort it would take to memorize the entire layout of the campus. It was classroom 2-A, which she remembered from her schedule to be her class.

Rose asked a multitude of questions, each one as significant to her as the next. Soon though, it became obvious to her that despite Masaka answering every one politely enough, she was getting irritated with the constant barrage of questions. So Rose stopped asking and before long, she found herself tuning out Masaka's narration of the school grounds, preferring instead to experience it without influence and explore by herself. Around her, Grace was staring at nothing, probably lost in her mind again. Luca was fiddling with his cuffed sleeves, visibly bored out of his mind. And the twins were... no where in sight. It looked like they beat her to exploring by herself, meaning Masaka would surely notice that part of her tour group had left if Rose also snuck away.

But as Rose studied her, she wasn't sure Masaka would even care. It wasn't that obvious, at least at first, but Rose saw that Masaka wasn't really interested in the tour either. Her demeanor was bland and bored and though she acted politely, her snide comments made it obvious that Rose and her siblings weren't worth her time. At the moment Rose realized this, she decided that she didn't like Masaka.

When their tour led them into some classroom on the second floor, Rose saw Masako glancing at the clock. She would have just brushed it off because honestly, they were all doing the same thing. But the more rooms they toured, Masako's eyes were glued to the clocks as she continued to drone on about classes and teachers and rules. _Does she need to be somewhere else?_

The tour continued and other students started trickling in, grouping together in the libraries, courtyard, and common rooms, casting strange glances at the tour group. Masaka had just finished showing them the 2nd library in the school when Rose decided to be nice and let their tour guide leave. _How much did these kids read to warrant multiple libraries?_

"Masaka," Rose smiled falsely," Thanks for the tour but, I think we get the gist of the school now."

Masaka smiled back, evident relief crossing her face at the prospect of leaving to go to whatever prior appointment the tour was keeping her from. Grace, snapping back into reality, chimed in, "You've been a big help. We can't thank you enough. But Rose is right; we need to go. Classes are almost starting and we still need to get our schedules."

"Yes, well. If you have any questions," Masaka blatantly glanced towards Rose, "feel free to ask any of the students here." Rose's translation? 'Don't associate yourselves with me from now on.'

With one more glance at the clock, Masaka briskly left the library. It was surprisingly full of students and yet none of them seemed to be there for the books. Silence in the library? _Yeah, right,_ Rose thought. The students probably obeyed that rule as much as they read the dust-covered books.

Luca collapsed on the nearest chair and propped his feet up on the nearest desk. "Thank God!" he mumbled, closing his eyes and tipping his head back, "I swear, if she went on for one more minute, I would have throttled her." Rose laughed.

"Really? You looked so out of it, I don't think you would have noticed if she started singing at the top of her lungs and bouncing up and down."

"Yeah, you're probably right but I'm still happy that the tour's finally over. Wait, Grace. Why did you say we needed to get our schedules when we already have them?"

"I just thought if we gave her an excuse, she wouldn't feel bad about leaving us alone," she answered , taking a closer look at the books on the shelves.

"Masaka didn't need any help to leave, Grace," Rose answered. "She was just as eager to leave as we were to get rid of her. Plus, she's not going to feel bad about leaving us. She was rude and stuck-up."

Grace sighed, and put a book she was looking at back on the shelf. "She might have been a little haughty, but maybe she has a reason to be. Don't judge her when you don't know her reaso-" The library door swung open to reveal the twins, interrupting Grace's defense of Masaka.

"Sorry we left you guys. We thought it would have been boring, Mia said, in way of explanation.

"Right," replied Rose, " so obviously, your first thought would be to let your siblings suffer without you." Mia smiled, exuding mock innocence.

"Yep! Iz and I figured that you guys could handle yourselves just fine."

Grace sighed. "Let's go, guys. The bell's going to ring any second." She ushered them out to the library and everyone went to find their respective classes. Grace and Luca, being the oldest, were third years, whereas Mia and Izzy were first years. Rose was smack dab in the middle -the only second year in the family. She didn't mind, though. It was fun to meet new people outside of her family.

"2A, 2A... Where are you, 2A?" Rose huffed and slumped against a door across from a room where the last few stragglers were filing into. It must've been a classroom, but reading the sign was a challenge since the door was open for students to enter. She studied it intently. "2...A! Oh!" She exclaimed. "You're right there, door. Gosh, I'm an idiot."

Bouncing back up onto her feet, she strolled through the door. The classroom was a light shade of pink like the rest of the rooms in the Academy, with great big windows overlooking the rose garden beneath. The pinkness, or _salmon_ ness of the school -as Masaka had informed us, acting somewhat offended- was almost overwhelming, but after awhile it became less perceptible. Chatter from the students rolled around the classroom, one conversation indistinguishable from the next, yet Rose found the sound welcoming. It was pretty easy to guess where it all was coming from as there was only one place in the huge room that students occupied.

In the middle of the class sat two boys, one with blond hair and the other with black hair and glasses, both around Rose's age. Granted everyone here was Rose's age.

Their discussion, however seemed to be the center of attention for the surrounding gaggle of girls. All of them seemed to be hanging on to each word Blondie said. He was currently enunciating his point with a repulsive amount of hand gestures while the glasses guy ignored him, preferring instead to type on his laptop. Whereas Blondie looked ignorant of all the attention, Glasses seemed apathetic to it, if not somewhat annoyed. He glanced at the clock as if impatient for class to start and then looked toward the door, where Rose was currently standing.

Narrowing his eyes in what looked like confusion, and he pulled something up on his laptop. He looked back at her and she gave him a sarcastic wave before choosing a seat. Sitting next to a large window, overlooking the rose maze, she sighed, exasperated at her classmates antics.

It wasn't until some middle aged guy with a bald spot and a blotchy face walked into the classroom that everyone took a seat and quieted down. The girls who ended up taking seats on the edges of the classroom glared at the few who sat close to the two boys. Rose would've thought they picked the two middle seats to purposefully get that reaction from girls, but she figured that no matter where they sat, the entire class's focus would still be on them.

Rose realized with a start that she recognized one of the girls sitting behind Blondie, and staring listlessly at the back of his head. It was Masaka.

Great.

 _So this is where she needed to be so badly,_ thought Rose, somewhat annoyed. Masaka had treated them rudely because she might've arrived late to class and not been able to sit behind some guy. Rose didn't consider that a valid reason to ever act rudely, as Grace had put it. No matter what logical thing Grace said, Rose didn't like Masaka. Withholding judgement, be damned.

And like Masaka, Rose started to realize that every one of these girls probably did the exact same thing. Narrowing her eyes, Rose stared out of the window. _So much for making new friends. These girls are all complete idiots._

* * *

Finally classes ended for the day. Rose yawned, tired of paying close attention to everything the professor said and furiously taking notes. For her first day of school ever, it was kind of boring. No wonder none of her siblings looked forward to school. When the bell rang, Rose was so relieved that she could've hugged the person next to her. Sadly, she didn't like the person sitting next to her. It was a girl with striking, blue eyes and thin lips, who had spent the entire day staring at Glasses and Blondie in the middle of the room with a dazed expression. When she asked what was so fascinating, the girl turned to her in confusion.

"Please tell me you're joking," she said disbelief scrunching up her tiny nose.

"Hi," Rose smiled and gave a sarcastic wave, clarifying her situation, "New girl here. What's the big deal with a couple of guys?" The girl looked down her nose at Rose, lips puckered in equal parts pity and disdain. Rose had to make an effort to refrain from rolling her eyes.

"You'll find out soon enough." She gave Rose a pitying glance. Then the girl then went back to her extremely important business of drooling in the direction of the room's middle two seats _._ Rose went back to her extremely important business of hating everyone in the room. And class had continued on as before from there.

Eager to escape the classroom as soon as possible, Rose gathered her notes and strode out of the room, trying to avoid the other students as much as possible. She spotted Grace walking toward her through the hallway. "Grace!" she called. "It was awful. Why didn't you tell me how boring school was?"

"I believe that Mia and Izzy did tell you exactly that, many, many times. Let's go find everyone else before they wander off anywhere."

Rose looked around. "Wait, where's Luca?" she asked. "Shouldn't he be around here somewhere?"

"He disappeared after class ended. He said something about wanting to get home and finish homework."

While Grace led them to the twins classroom, Rose told her about her first day of school, admittedly more dramatized than truthful. Grace made a few comments here and there, and laughing at Rose's description of her idiotic classmates. When she started to talk about the two boys with all of the attention, Grace stared at her in surprise.

"Really?" she asked. " That's interesting. In my class, there were also two boys who seemed to be at the center of everyone's attention. Do you know who they are?"

"No, the girls in my class didn't exactly appreciate me interrupting their ogling with questions like that. Believe me, I tried."

Grace thought. "Hmm. The boys in my class, Takashi Morinozuka and Mitsukuni Haninozuka, are apparently in a club that's famous here on campus. Maybe the boy's in your class are in the same club."

"Yep, well I've got no idea. If Blondie and Glasses are in a club together, then I have no clue as to what it could b-"

Rose cut off quickly as she ran into Grace, who had abruptly stopped walking.

"I don't recognize this part of the building," she said, glancing around for any clues that might say where they were. Without their notice, the hallways had become desolate. All the students had gone, leaving to some after school activity or maybe just home in general. Rose felt that if a tumbleweed blew across the floor, it wouldn't exactly be out of place. The hallways were completely empty and not even the drone of voices from one of the libraries could be heard.

"Geez, wouldn't you think that the school would put up some maps around like they have at malls?" Rose asked, frustrated, "It's a ridiculously huge school. How do they expect us to get around: GPS? Spirit Guide, maybe?"

Grace sighed, "Yes, Rose. Next time you get lost, I suggest you consult your spirit guide. But for now..." She paused. "Maybe we should ask someone to help us."

"Right," Rose said, shooting Grace a look. " Ok sure. Great plan! There's just one tiny flaw - miniscule really. Do you see anyone around to ask? Because I'm drawing a blank."

"Idiot," Grace mumbled, shaking her head. Grabbing Rose's arm, she started to retrace their steps. Right then, the sound of footsteps echoed from another hallway in front of them.

Glancing at each other, they walked quickly towards the sound. Rounding a corner, they saw a small, blond boy walk open one of the many doors. "Mitsukuni!" Grace cried out.

"Hi, Grace-chan! I told you to call me Honey, before. Have you come to visit the Host Club? It's not open to the ladies today, but you can visit tomorrow! Just make sure to visit me, 'kay? "

Rose almost cried. The kid was so cute and tiny, and she just wanted to squeeze him.

"No, actually Honey, we're lost and need to find the Academy's entrance."

"Oh! Well I can help you. You two can wait here while I go tell Takashi. I'll be right ba-" A crash sounded from the room and all three whipped their heads towards the door. Honey threw open the door to reveal Izzy, Mia, 5 other boys -two of whom Rose recognized as Blondie and Glasses- all standing over shattered glass and an empty pedestal.

"Oops," Mia said, dumbstruck. Her eyes were wide with shock and Rose assumed that she was the one who broke the glass. It must've looked very expensive because Mia and Izzy's faces were clouded with terror.

"We just had that replaced!" exclaimed one of the boys, who had flaming, red hair. The other boy standing next to him, which obviously was his twin nodded solemnly. "In hindsight, maybe we should have moved it to a better protected spot after the first one broke."

The boy from Rose's class adjusted his glasses. "I hope you realize that particular vase was very expensive."

Rose sweatdropped. _And that particular statement_ _was stating the obvious._

Rose cleared her throat. "How much was it worth?" she asked, making them all jump. Everybody in the room hadn't yet realized that Grace, Honey, and her in the room. Glasses looked at her, recognition flashing across his face.

"You ladies are all related, correct?"

"Yes, your right, but you still haven't answered my question. How much will it cost?"

He studied her again, this time in slight confusion. "In yen, I believe the going price was 13 million. More that your family could possibly afford. "

Grace visibly paled while Izzy and Mia both choked. Rose narrowed her eyes at him, angry that he would assume that. She did, however, realize that it was true: they couldn't afford it.

The red-haired twins both smirked, simultaneously. They walked forward, stalked around Mia and Izzy like animals circling their prey. Izzy and Mia both glared.

"Well, well. What can we do?" said one of the redheaded twins. The second twin called over his shoulder, "Boss, any ideas?"

Sitting on a throne-like chair was Blondie, who smiled at the girls. "Well boy, it looks as if four lovely ladies have decided to join our club!" Standing up and flourishing his hand with enough drama for a Broadway musical, he started to babble.

Rose tuned him out instantly, deadpanning. For the first time since entering the club, she looked around, studying the club.

It was large and filled with tea tables and lounging chairs, and food. Lots and lots of food. Rose noticed several different kinds of tea cakes -no doubt, very expensive- many teapots and an array of various fruits, sandwiches, and other snacks. It was the most elaborate tea-time set up Rose had ever seen.

Rose asked tentatively to Glasses," What does he mean, new members to your club?" Instead of him answering though, it was Honey who replied, who was no longer standing next to them.

He means that you ladies get to be members of the Ouran High School Host Club!" Rose decided right away two things. One, that she liked this kid and his enthusiasm about everything. Two, that he was way more excited about this than he should be, which scared her. He was on the shoulders of a tall boy with dark grey eyes and spiky black hair. Rose assumed that this must be Takashi Morinozuka, who Grace had mentioned before. He stood stoically, staring around the room with seeming indifference.

Glasses spoke again. "Given that you cannot hope to compensate us for the broken vase, you will pay it off by working here as Tamaki had suggested."

"And," Izzy eyed them all suspiciously," what do you mean by a host club...exactly?"

"What is the host club? Let me explain it to you princess," Blondie, or actually Tamaki, gracefully stood, snapping out of his tirade. "Ouran Academy's Host club is where the school's handsomest boys entertain and grant the wishes of young ladies, catering to their needs. Does that answer your question, princess?"

Izzy managed to pull herself free from Blondie's grip and ran behind Rose, Mia in tow.

"I will inform you of the details later," Glasses said," but right now, our meeting is running late, so I'll have to ask you to leave."

The twins were out of the door as soon as he finished talking, glad to be gone. Rose sighed.

"I guess we'll be back tomorrow then."

Honey waved at them. "Goodbye ladies! See you tomorrow!"

With a glance once more at the hosts, she and Grace also followed the others out of the door.

* * *

 **Hey Guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. It was pretty long, but I really wanted to be done with the prologue-ish start to the story because now I can get into the actual episode part of the story. Fun! My goal is to publish the first three chapters this week to get the story started and then publish one or two every week after. As always, feel free to comment and review. I love constructive criticism so anything you can tell me will probably help make my story much better. As they say, the brutal truth is a writer's best friend.**

 **Lots of Love**

 **~Inyostalk**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club or any of the materials I may make reference to. I do however, own my OC's.**

* * *

Grace's POV:

It was just before Club activities started when Grace walked into the Host Club. After classes ended, she approached her professor with questions concerning the curriculum. With the new school, and new country, the materials they learned in class was vastly different than before. And with the new studies, Grace had to devote more time to her studies, but conflicting with that was the Host Club's time schedule. Now, instead of pouring over the books at home, she now squeezed it in during the Club's activities and during her breaks.

After the tragic vase incident a few days earlier, Grace and her siblings worked at the Host Club after school ended each day. They would bring snacks and tea to the Hosts and guests, and clean up after a day's activity. Kyoya assigned each girl a specific Host's table to serve: Rose had Kyoya's -the spectacled boy in her class- while Mia and Izzy had Hikaru and Kaoru's table -the red-haired twins. Grace had Mori and Honey's table and Haruhi, another member of the Club, waited on Tamaki's table.

Haruhi worked at the Host Club as a reluctant employee, also. Stuck in the same indebted situation as the girls, Grace found that she liked Haruhi. She was blunt and surprisingly honest. At the moment, she was at the store, shopping for things the Club had run out of during the busy week. Apparently, by adding new members, the amount of business they got increased as the students came in to see who was lucky enough to work with the other Hosts.

It was the third day that Grace had cut it so close, but when she walked in, Mori and Honey still hadn't shown up either, striking her as odd. Rose flashed her a smile and waved her over to the snack table, where she was piling an assortment of pastries onto a platter, ready to be served to the day's guests.

"Alright, men!" Tamaki suddenly jumped up, addressing everyone in the room, "Let's get ready to welcome our guests."

"Sure thing, Boss!" Hikaru and Kaoru replied in unison. Grace, Rose, and the twins stood off to the side, trying to avoid the stampede of bright yellow and high pitched squeals that immediately followed.

Rose looked pointedly towards Kyoya, who was sitting at his table, immersed in his laptop. "Do you think he'd ever let us join another club? I was thinking that I could join an art club and you could find one for writing."

"I don't know. Maybe you should ask and find out, Rose. You'll never know unless you try."

"Ugh. You sound all logical again. I was hoping the writing club would be enough to..." As Rose trailed off, Grace rolled her eyes, with more than a little amusement bubbling through her veins.

"Let me guess. You were hoping that I would say 'Great idea! Let me go talk to Kyoya about this while you stand over here- a very, very long and safe distance away'. Rose, you need to get over your fear of Kyoya. He won't bite."

"Maybe not physically, but sure as hell verbally," she muttered. Straightening her spine, she said, "Fine, I'll ask, but if I need you to save me, I'll give you a signal."

"What's the signal?"

I'll imitate the scream of a terrified little girl and cry dramatically." She walked away, adding, "And I'm not scared of him!"

Because Mori and Honey still hadn't arrived yet, Grace took it upon herself to entertain their guest temporarily. She grabbed a couple of pastries and drinks and walked over to the table where they waited.

As she passed by the doors to the Club, they swung open, almost knocking Grace over. She danced out of the way, frantically making sure no pastries fell to the floor. Haruhi stepped in, clutching a bag of groceries with hands hidden inside the sleeves of an oversized sweater. Her short, shaggy brown hair fell in front of the large glasses sitting on her face, askew.

"Thanks for doing the shopping, little piglet," Tamaki called from his table as Haruhi walked through the door, "Did you get everything on our list?"

"Piglet?" Haruhi muttered, confusion and exasperation sparking in her eyes, "What is he talking about?"

"Don't ask me, " said Grace, "I've got no idea."

* * *

"Wait a minute," Tamaki paused, "What is this?" Grace glanced over at him, from where Mori and Honey's table. He was holding a plastic box of brown powder.

"Exactly what it looks like," Haruhi replied. "It's coffee."

"Is it the already ground kind?"

"What are you talking about? It's instant coffee."

Tamaki exclaimed in awe. "Oh! I've heard of this before, it's commoner's coffee. You just add hot water!"

Flocks of guests and Hosts alike started to drift from their own table and towards Tamaki. Grace smiled, amused. The commotion Tamaki was creating had captured the attention of the whole room, it seemed.

One girl pronounced, "So its true then. Poor people don't even have enough free time to grind their own coffee beans."

Poor people? Are you kidding?

She saw the same thought mirrored on her siblings faces. Grace didn't think the students at Ouran would ever have had instant coffee, but to barely have heard of it was downright strange. She concluded that these kids must've been in their little bubble of wealth, ignorant to the world around them.

Kyoya and the twins appeared in the crowd, gazing over Tamaki's shoulder.

"Commoners are pretty smart." Kyoya admitted.

"One hundred grams for 300 yen?" The twins said, leaning on the couch. "That's a lot less than we normally pay."

Haruhi apologized, irritation practically radiating off of her face at the ignorance of the rich people surrounding her. "I'll go back and get something else. Excuse me for not buying you guys expensive coffee."

"No, I'll keep it. I'm going to give it a try." Tamaki held up his hand, "I will drink this coffee!"

As the surrounding people clapped, Rose walked over to Grace, followed by Mia and Izzy. "I really hope that they're not always like this," Rose muttered.

Grace gave her a sideways glance, "At least they are trying it and not dismissing the coffee. They're just trying to experience something that's new for them."

"I think it's funny," said Mia, glancing at the big crowd. "The poor, naïve rich kids, lowering themselves to drinking inexpensive coffee for the sake of learning how hard it is to be a commoner," Mia swooned mockingly, "How noble!"

Izzy and Rose cracked up, laughing at Mia's exaggerated impression. Looking back at the table, Grace saw that Haruhi was thinking the same thing they were.

When Haruhi finished preparing the cups of 'commoner's coffee, the voluntary taste testers looked skeptically into the brown liquid.

"I'm afraid if I drink this," one said, "my father will yell at me."

Tamaki hearing this, and not one to let a damsel-in-distress worry, asked, "But what if I let you drink it from my mouth." All of the surrounding girls screamed in delight, blushing furiously. Rose scoffed. "Oh, please. This is ridiculous. These girls actually pay to be here?"

* * *

After the whole coffee debacle, Grace observed the different hosting activities in the Club room. It was very, very sad, watching the Host's performances. Tamaki in particular, with his grand flourishes and shallow compliments. She thought it was pitiful to watch all of the poor girls that fell for it.

The twins were somewhat disturbing with their act of 'brotherly love'. Grace was a little scared to go near them during their acting, but she spotted Izzy and Mia standing near their table, snickering loudly. Kaoru and Hikaru seemed to be trying their best to ignore them though it was plain they weren't doing a very good job of it. Rose was standing over near Kyoya, watching the various Hosts amusedly. He was typing on his laptop and to his obvious annoyance, answering her continuous stream of questions as she pointed to various things. Grace chuckled, softly. Classic Rose.

The doors swung open one more time that day to show Mori carrying Honey sempai, who seemed half asleep. The girls at their table brightened, greeting them as they walked up.

"Sorry, we're running late," he said, rubbing his eyes. "I was waiting for Takashi to finish his Kendo meeting. I fell asleep and am still not completely awake."

The girls all wailed in delight.

Grace vacated her spot on the couch to the Hosts. Mori nodded his thanks to her as she left, his expressionless face almost appearing to soften. She offered him a smile in return and left to replenish the snacks. With Honey now there, they were going to need much more cake. At the food table, she glanced up as Haruhi and Rose also started filling up trays with sandwiches and tea. Rose, jerking her head in the direction of Honey, asked, "Is that boy really a third year student? He looks like he should be in middle school or something."

"Yeah, he and Mori are in my class. Although, it does seem strange that he acts so young."

"Acts young?" asked Haruhi.

"Mmm. His demeanor is child-like and he really likes sweet things. He carries around a stuffed bunny, too."

" Aww, really? That is completely adorable."

"Honey-sempai is a prodigy, despite looking young and childish," Kyoya said, appearing behind them out of the blue, making all three of the jump. "And Mori-sempai's draw, is his strong and silent disposition." As Honey ran over and jumped on Haruhi, swinging her around, Grace glanced at Mori, wondering if his quietness was a result of his role at the club. To her, it seemed too ingrained in him to just be an act. Mori's gaze followed Honey as he talked to Haruhi and for a split second, flicked up to her. Grace felt her face flush in embarrassment at being caught studying him, and she quickly slid her eyes back to Honey and Haruhi.

Honey was asking Haruhi to eat with him. When she refused, Honey instead, inquired if she wanted to hold Usa-chan. Haruhi stared at the stuffed, pink bunny he held so intently that it seemed to blush.

"I guess he is kinda cute, huh?" Spinning around, he said, "Take care of him, ok?" He jumped back to his guests, giggling and radiating energy.

Kyoya continued informing us both about the Club members. "You'll notice that our club utilizes each member's unique characteristics to cater to the desires of our guests. Tamaki is number one here: The Host Club's king. His request rate is 70%. And until you graduate Ouran Academy, you will be the Ouran Host Club's dogs." He smiled at them, though Grace saw a smirk lying behind it. "Oh, excuse me, I meant to say errand boys. You can try to run away if you'd like, but just so you know, my family employs a private police task force. By the way, do you all have passports?" Grace saw that both Haruhi and Rose picked up on the implied threat there.

"What do you mean errand boys? Except for Haruhi, we're all girls here," Rose said.

"Rose," Grace admonished, that's not-"

Kyoya cut her off. "Yes, I apologize. Errand girls and boy, then."

Tamaki appeared out of thin air next to Haruhi. "You're going to have to work hard to pay off that debt, my little nerd." He blew onto her neck and Haruhi jumped away, startled. Rubbing the back of her neck, she said, "Please don't do that again.

"You need a makeover or no girls going to look twice at you," Tamaki stated. Grace choked, beginning to gather that everyone here, was under the impression Haruhi was a boy. She glanced sideways at Haruhi. _Did she know what they thought? Did she even care?_ Haruhi struck her as the type of girl who didn't care about how she looked. "Yeah. Well, I'm not trying to get girls to look at me."

"Are you kidding? You have to learn to be a gentleman and please the ladies. Like me," he added.

"I just don't think it's all that important. Why should I care about appearances and labels anyway. I mean, all that really matters is what's on the inside, right? I don't even understand why you have a Host Club like this."

Grace smiled as Haruhi confirmed her earlier suspicions. Haruhi's words gave her something to respect. At least not everyone in Ouran academy was crazy and vain.

Snapping back to reality, Grace joined in Rose and Haruhi's debate. Tamaki had started a tirade or lecture on something, but it seemed everyone had tuned him out.

"There's a word to describe people like him," Haruhi muttered.

Rose nodded, "Yeah. What was it?"

"I don't know. Damn, I wish I could remember that word, " Haruhi said, thinking hard.

"Flamboyant, dramatic, annoying?" Grace supplied.

Rose shook her head. "Wow, Grace! You're finally embracing your mean side. I knew it was in there somewhere if we dug deep enough."

As Grace rolled her eyes, Haruhi exclaimed quite loudly, "Huh, I got it! Obnoxious."

Tamaki froze, physically deflating.

"That's it," agreed Rose, Izzy and Mia cracking up from one of the tables. The twins walked over, draping themselves over Haruhi with mischievous glances towards Tamaki.

"Sorry senpai," Haruhi apologized, "But, your lessons did strike a small chord with me."

He stood back up, all of his previous exuberance returned.

"Really, It did? Then let me teach you more, my friend."

"Boss-" Tamaki interrupted the twins , "Call me king!"

They both ignored his interruption with matching expressions that said ' _No way in hell'_.

"You can teach him the basics of hosting-"

"But he's not going to get very far with the ladies if he doesn't look the part you know."

"He's not exactly Host club material but maybe if we took off his glasses it would help."

Grace heard Rose whisper to Kyoya, who was still standing next to them, "Do they usually speak in turns?"

He nodded yes, glancing down at her as Tamaki snapped his fingers.

"Hikaru. Kaoru."

"Right," they said in unison, and dragged Haruhi out of the main room.

"Kyoya, my hair stylist. Mori-sempai, go to the eye doctor and get him some contact lenses." Grace thought that without her glasses, Haruhi looked even more like a girl than before, but obviously the Hosts didn't agree.

"Honey-senpai," Tamaki said to the ecstatic boy, "Go eat some cake."

Each one of the hosts went to carry out their respective tasks, though Honey was heartbreakingly disappointed. "Guess it's just you and me, Usa-chan," he said, addressing the bunny. "Everyone else says they're too busy." Grace and Rose glanced at each other. "Honey," they called, "Can we join you?"

He looked up at them, realizing that he wasn't the only one left behind. "You ladies want to eat with me?"

"Free cake? Heck yes!" Izzy and Mia replied. The four of them sat at Honey's table as he chattered on incessantly. Rose and the twins catapulted forkfuls of cake at each other while Grace just enjoyed her slice in content, trying not to think of how much cleaning she would have to do after her siblings' cake war.

* * *

The Hosts returned from their tasks and Mori walked over to stand behind Honey, glancing over the stack of empty cake platters in the middle of the table. The twins followed Haruhi to the changing room with a spare boy's uniform.

"That won't end well," Grace said. Her tablemates stared at her in confusion with the exception of Honey. "Yep! Kaoru and Hikaru are in for a surprise, aren't they?"

Within moments, the twins stumbled out of the room as if someone had shoved them. "Both of you, get out!" Haruhi shouted. Grace chuckled, shaking her head.

Haruhi came out of the room dressed in the uniform. Tamaki gushed, "Cute! You're as pretty as a girl. Adorable!" _So close and yet so far._

Honey jumped up from the table. "Haru -chan, you look so cute!

"If we knew you looked like this before-"

"-We would have helped you out sooner."

"Who knows, maybe he will draw in some customers," Kyoya suggested.

"You know," Tamaki said, "that's just what I was thinking. Starting today, you're an official member of the Host Club! I will personally train you to be a first-rate host. If you, Haruhi, can get 100 customers to request you, we will consider your debt repaid."

Haruhi's jaw dropped. "A host?"

* * *

 **Hey guys! We're finally following the episode order now, kind of. Yay! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. School's been in the way, but hopefully now we're back on track for a chapter per week. Any questions about the story, you guys can just PM me or comment. Make sure to check out the poll that's up. And like always, please comment and review!**

 **Lots of Love,**

 **~ Inyostalk ~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club or any of the materials I may make reference to. I do however, own my OC's.**

 **Rose's POV:**

The next day, Haruhi was set up with his own table, entertaining a couple guests, but his quota of 100 customers was no where near met. Earlier, Kyoya gave Rose the lucky task of serving Haruhi's table. She was sure it was to give himself a break from her. Kyoya rarely deigned to entertain anyone, preferring instead to act married to his laptop. This usually led to Rose having nothing to do except sit with him. Sometimes, she would talk to him about pointless things like her day at school or what she thought about the other students in order to get a reaction out of him. Usually it didn't work. He would just sit at his table and type on his laptop, ignoring her. But when he grew impatient with her, he would huff in exasperation and glare at her through his glasses. She'd then smile at him triumphantly and swagger away to the snack table.

But today she would actually need to do some work, though with Haruhi's small clientele, it wasn't going to be difficult.

Though the girls seemed oblivious to Haruhi's internal panicking, it was a point of amusement for Rose. Throughout most of the day's session, she had been leaning against the snack table, grinning at Haruhi's attempt at hosting. Not that he wasn't good at it, he just needed to learn girls aren't very scary. Haruhi's smile seemed frozen on his face in an expression similar to a polite grimace. Every time a guest smiled at him, Haruhi would wince away unconsciously. Oh, the woes of a cute teenage boy.

But as she watched from across the room as the girls attempted to pry information out of Haruhi, the mood at the table changed. Haruhi started speaking, his head down, and the guests became enraptured. This caught Rose's attention. What could she say? Her curiosity was spiked.

Attempting to get a better look, she filled a tray with sweets and drinks and glided over to Haruhi's table, unnoticed.

"...mother taught me. She was an amazing cook. And when she went to the hospital, she left me all kinds of recipes. It was fun to create each dish, especially when they turned out well and it made me happy to see my dad enjoy it," Haruhi looked up her guests with a bittersweet smile. "My childhood's been hard, but we've made it through just fine."

Rose walked away, smirking. _Ok,_ she thought, _Maybe he's not so bad after all._

On her way back to the snack table, Rose froze in her tracks, staring directly at Tamaki's table. Each of the other hosts seemed to be neglecting their own guests and were cowering behind of below Tamaki's couch, whispering as they stared at Haruhi and his guests.

"Idiots," she mumbled, smiling.

"What was that about?" Grace walked up to her, motioning towards Haruhi's table.

"Oh, nothing. Just Haruhi describing her life in order to collect some more guests. It's actually a really good tactic. Here I thought he was just shy around girls when all along, it turns out he was just trying to ensnare them. Cunning bastard."

"Well, he does have the opportunity to erase his debt. If I was her... I mean, if I was him, then I would be trying all of my tactics as well."

"Yeah, sort of genius, really. But, I guess you can't expect anything less from someone with an a-"

"Mori-senpai! Help me!" Rose and Grace whipped around, startled by Haruhi's cry for help. Rose calmed her breathing down after she saw that it was just Tamaki smothering him like usual. They both watched as Mori rushed over and lifted Haruhi out of Tamaki's grasp. Admiration flitted across Grace's face.

Then a beat of semi-awkwardness passed as Haruhi dangled. If Rose looked closely, she could swear that Mori was blushing. Mori put him down and walked back to his table as if nothing had happened. Tamaki and Haruhi started bickering. Rose looked over to Grace, who shrugged and turned to the snacks, lost in her thoughts. _Only 40 minutes left,_ she thought.

The next day, the club was running late. It wasn't that the members were behind in setting up, but rather that they were missing a host. Haruhi hadn't been seen since classes ended and the club was anxiously awaiting her arrival.

Rose was intently watching a card game between Mia and Izzy. She lost a few minutes before and was waiting for the opportunity to get back in. Her chances weren't very high. Grace settled down next to Rose on the couch. Frustrated with her lack of skill at cards, Rose gave up on the game and turned her attention on the room around them.

"Where's Tamaki?"

Grace replied, "He left a few minutes ago to look for Haruhi." Rose hummed in acknowledgement. Grace pulled out a Calculus assignment, blonde hair falling across her face. Rose leaned back, closing her eyes. After a few moments she bounced up and wandered over to Kyoya's table. He didn't look up as she seated herself across from him, but his hands stilled over his keyboard.

"What does the club do when someone's sick?" she asked. He looked up at her from across the table and sank back into the couch.

"We carry on as usual."

"But then why are club activities postponed now? If a club member isn't here, and usually the club continues on without them, then shouldn't we open the club now?

"You are correct and usually we would do that, but ultimately it's Tamaki's call and we especially wouldn't open the club without him while he's here at the school. He is our king after all."

"Ah, ok." Rose nodded in understanding and sank back. When it became clear that she wasn't going to ask any more questions, he resumed typing on his laptop. They sat there in silent contentment for a while longer until the door burst open. Rose, who had almost been lulled to sleep, snapped open her eyes to peer at the two. They were each a little wet from the knees down, yet both didn't seem to care.

With their arrival, club activities began and the guests started filing in. Rose got up her couch with reluctance. Kyoya had a few guests of his own that day, so she was pulling a double shift, serving both his and Haruhi's tables. Surprisingly, one of Tamaki's regulars had requested Haruhi, a pretty girl with dark red hair. Rose smiled as she thought of Haruhi stealing guests from the hosts 'King'. _Slowly but surely, he's making his quota._

She was just pouring tea for one of Kyoya's guests when a large crash echoed behind her. The kettle she held almost slipped out of her hands. When she turned around, she saw Haruhi on the floor, bracing himself above his guest. He wore a look of horror as the girl below him started screaming for help.

"Haruhi... Haruhi just attacked me! Someone help! Teach this commoner a lesson."

Out of nowhere, the twins appeared, each pouring a pitcher of tea on the two on the ground. If someone's attention wasn't caught before, it certainly was now.

As Tamaki helped her up, the girl whimpered, "Do something Tamaki. That commoner just assaulted me." He stared at her.

"I'm disappointed in you. You're the one who threw his bag into the pond, aren't you?"

"How can you say that? Do you have any proof that I did?" She looked up at him panicked as each of the Hosts stood up.

"You really are very pretty," Tamaki continued. "But, you're just not fit to be our guest here. There's one thing I'm sure of. Haruhi is not that kind of man."

The girl backed up from him. "But... but Tamaki." She sniffled and ran out the door in tears.

Everyone watched her go, then turned back to Tamaki, who turned to Haruhi. "Hmm, since this is, after all, your fault, how am I going to punish you?" he asked. "Oh, I know! Your quota is now one thousand." Haruhi stiffened, non-plussed.

"Right, because that seems fair," muttered Mia, a couple of tables away. Tamaki hauled Haruhi up with a grunt. "I've got high expectations for you, rookie."

After the dramatic scene, Kyoya sent all the guests home. Kyoya somehow found another uniform for him to borrow. "Sorry," he said, "it's the only spare we have but it's better than a wet uniform."

"Thanks, guys. I'm going to go change." As he went off to the other room, Rose and her sisters started to clean up the mess she made. It was relatively quiet after that. Everyone went about cleaning up from the day's activities. Tamaki headed over to the dressing room with some towels.

"Haruhi, here you go," he opened the curtain. "Now you can dry off before getting another uniform wet." But instead of going in he just let the curtain close, expression frozen to his face.

"...Haruhi."

"Yes?"

"You're a... girl?"

"Biologically speaking, yes." She opened the curtain dressed in the spare uniform. The spare girl's uniform. "Listen, I don't really care whether you see me as a boy or a girl. I think who they are matters more than what sex they are." She shrugged, nonchalantly.

"What!?" Rose, Mia, and Izzy exclaimed in unison. Grace kept on cleaning.

"Well isn't this interesting," Kyoya said, unsurprised. The twins voiced their agreement, each smirking.

"All of you knew?" asked Izzy

"Even you, Grace?" Mia turned to face her.

She looked up from cleaning the tables. "Yeah."

Rose threw up her hands and said, "Then why didn't you say anything?"

"Well, I assumed that either it would jeopardize her job as a host, making her do more work for less money, or that she wanted to be seen as a boy and not as a girl. Either way, it would have been rude to mention anything. When I realized that you guys had no idea she was a girl, I kinda just went along with it."

"Still, Senpai," Haruhi smiled at Tamaki. "Earlier, I thought you were pretty cool." Tamaki's face turned crimson as he slowly backed away.

As Rose stood shell-shocked, Kyoya muttered from beside her, "Could this possibly be the beginning of love?"

She glanced up at him in curiosity. Then turned to observe both Tamaki and Haruhi, smiling and blushing respectively. _Beginnings of Love, indeed._

 **I do want to note that, though it will specify who's point of view it is at the beginning of the chapter, the writing style will still be in third person. Sorry it took me so long to update; I was busy with school, then sick, then into finals. Hopefully, now that it's summer, I'll be able to get back to writing again and updating regularly. Comment and Review, please!**

 **Lots of Love,**

 **Inyostalk**


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